332 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTI E ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



foot square, capable of performing what customarily took up the spac; 

 of several huge laboratory rooms on Earth. Symington relates: 



The biomedical package was steriliz.cd with intense heat to make sure no Earth- 

 bound micro-organisms were carried to Mars, and this was one of the reasons the 

 biomedical package wasn't ready and was behind schedule. They were having trouble 

 with it, and finally we went out to look at it. Here I am an English major and a lawyer, 

 and rhey showed me this black box with a lot of wiring in it. * * * Well, the 

 question was: should we fly this thing with no assurance that the biomedical package 

 is going to work, which was a package to test if there is lif; on Mars, and if it did not 

 work, what is the sense of sending it up there? 



Symington graphically described his dilemma: if it flies and doesn't 

 work, "you have sent up a package for nothing". But if you don't 

 fly because you are worried about the biomedical package, then you 

 wait for the next Mars window about 26 months hence, which means 

 a huge increase in the costs. 



During the oversight hearings, Winn became exasperated with 

 the parade of problems, cost increases, and complex technical diffi- 

 culties which required costly new research while the development was 

 proceeding: 



I am telling you right now * * * I am going to start saying **no" to a lot of 

 these programs. The American people are fed up with cost over-runs. If you look at 

 some of the people in both parties, they campaigned on this issue. I am saying you 

 guys are not going to be able to stick this stuff down our throats anymore. 



Symington immediately added: 



There is another dimension to Mr. Winn's point. From your testimony, it appears 

 that you would have flown a 1975 mission if OMB had not stepped in to stop you, 

 true? 



Dr. Edgar Cortright of NASA responded circumspectly: 



I can't remember whether OMB said that. I believe the Administrator made the 

 judgment. 



This prompted Symington to make the tongue-in-cheek response : 



We know OMB has nothing to do with budget constraints. [Laughter.] 



It was a serious oversight hearing, dealing with extremely complex 

 dialogue on new forms of instruments which were to play a part in 

 discovering and pushing back vast frontiers. Every now and then, 

 Symington's somewhat puckish sense of humor bubbled to the surface. 

 After a dreary recital of a long series of unanticipated delays, at one 

 point Symington mused: 



